UK Trade and Investment Minister Lord Mervyn Davies landed at Ben Gurion Airport on 19 May at the start of a two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

In Israel, Lord Davies met his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, Bank of Israel Governor, Prof. Stanley Fischer, leading Israeli businessmen and representatives from Israeli companies that have dealings with the UK.

On 19 May, British Ambassador to Israel, Tom Phillips, hosted a dinner at his Ramat Gan residence for Lord Davies with leading figures from the Israeli financial world. Among the guests were Shraga Brosh, Amnon Dotan, Gad Propper, Dov Tadmor, Solly Sakal, Lenny Judes and UK Trade and Investment Israel Director Richard Salt.

In his speech, Lord Davies highlighted the excellent trade relations between the UK and Israel and announced his plans to lead a high-level delegation of British businessmen to Israel in the near future. He praised Israel for becoming a world leader in the field of technology and life sciences.

On 20 May, Lord Davies hosted a special breakfast meeting with major Israeli companies operating in the UK before heading to Jerusalem where he met with Governor Fischer. The two discussed the global financial crisis and the challenges it presents to the Israeli economy, in particular the private financial sector. Prof. Fischer briefed Lord Davies on the steps Israel was taking to minimize the effects of the credit crunch.

Lord Davies told Prof. Fischer that the UK government and the British financial sector were deeply interested in expanding trade ties between the two countries.

During Lord Davies’ meeting with his Israeli opposite, Minister Ben-Eliezer, the two discussed a potential role for Israeli companies during the 2012 London Olympics, and Minister Ben-Eliezer asked Lord Davies to consider sending out a delegation for the WATEC international conference this November. Ben-Eliezer noted that some 70 percent of water in Israel is used by agriculture and outlined the technical advances spearheaded by Israeli companies.

Lord Davies then travelled to the Palestinian Authority for a series of meetings there. Read more about his visit to the Palestinian Authority.

Notes for Editors

• Lord Davies was appointed Minister for Trade and Investment in January 2009 after serving as chairman of Standard Chartered Bank.
• This is the second visit by a UK Trade and Investment Minister to Israel in less than a year: Lord Davies’ predecessor Lord Digby Jones visited Israel in July 2008 with a 20-strong business delegation as part of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s visit to Israel.
• For more information on the visit, please contact Lior Aloni, UK Trade & Investment PR, on + 972 (0)54 2822580.
• See also our UKTI Israel section.

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